Package



L. V. LEYSEN Dec. 15, 1964 PACKAGE Filed March 5, 1963 FIG.

FIG.I

INVENTOR. L. V. LEYSEN ATTORNEY United States Patent Ofitice 3,151,239 Patented Dec. 1 5, 1 964 3,161,289 PACKAGE Leyle V. Leysen, 26ll2 Western, Davenport, Iowa Filed Mar. 5, 1%3, Ser. No. 262,990 4 Claims. (til. zen-s2 This invention relates to a package and more particularly to a package comprising an enclosing container and contents thereof which are normally dispensed or removed from the container by withdrawal without completely opening and discarding the container.

The invention finds especial utility in the packaging and dispensing of coiled strand-like material, one commercially accepted and known example of which is electrical wire used in many forms in business, residential, construction etc. wiringQ Typically, a coil of such wire, Whether single-strand or multiple-strand, will be supplied in a coil of several hundred feet, wound to an outside diameter of, say, twelve to sixteen inches and having an axial dimension of, say, three to four inches, depending upon length, Wire size, etc.; and such coil will come packaged in a carton or container constructed of any of the well known paper boards. 'The carton or box is completely enclosed and must therefor bear appropriate labeling or. other marking to reveal wire color, size, type and the like. The user on the job will cut an opening in the carton in the area of the axis on which the coil is wound and thus will have access to the inner terminal end of the coil for dispensing same by withdrawing it via said opening,

usually leaving the box lying on the floor during dispensing of the wire. Such packages are, in the main, relatively heavy and difiicult to handle by the individual work man, especially when carried up and down ladders or even from place to place on one level. Moreover, the carton, because of its very nature, tends to disintegrate from moisture when left lying on wet floors, damp ground etc. and is further subject to damage by falling objects and otherwise.

It is a principal object of the present invention to avoid these disadvantages by providing the package with a handle, consisting of a portion of the wire, or equivalent material, brought outside the box at the end of the wire opposite to the end from which the coil is normally dispensed, whereby the package may be easily carried, hung up in dry, safe places and anchored to assure easy unwinding of the coil. Moreover, the exposed handle serves to indicate at a glance the color and general type of wire, thus simplifying labeling. It is a further feature of the invention that the above object is achieved while retaining the basic advantages of existing packages. A further object resides in means for assuring that the handle will retain its form without separation from the carton or ad- Versely affecting the coil within, plus other features and advantages as will appear from the ensuing description of preferred embodiments of the invention as shown in the accompanying drawing, the figures of which are described below.

FIG. 1 is a perspective of one form of package, show- ;ing a portion broken away to illustrate the manner in FIGS. 1-3

The package shown here comprises an outer or enclosing container, carton or box 10 and a contained quantity of material represented by 'a coil 12 of strand-like material such as typical electrical wire. At this point, it should be noted that the broad aspects of the invention are not limited by such things as size, material, quantity etc.

The container or carton has a pair of opposed walls 16 and 18, here upright, and a peripheral wall 20 made up in this case of end walls 22 and 24, bottom flaps 26, 28, 30 and 32, and top flaps 34, 36, 38 and 40. This represents typical carton construction where any of the known paper boards, etc. are used; although, other constructions can be resorted to.

It is characteristic of the package that the coil is wound about a principal axis A (FIG. 3) from an inner terminal end 42 toan outer terminal end 44 (FIG. 3), and the coil is disposed primarily within the container so that its axis A is normal to the Walls 16 and 18, with the peripheral wall 20 surrounding the outside diameter of the coil. By means that will appear in detail below, an external portion of the last turn of coil appears outside the container as a loop providing a handle 46 for carrying and hanging the package as well as for designating at a glance the color, size, general type etc. of the wire.

The container or carton has a pair of opposed walls 16 and 18, here upright, and a peripheral wall 20 made up in this case of end walls 22 and 24, bottom flaps 26, 28, 30 and 32, and top flaps 34, 36, 38 and 43. This repr'esentstypical carton construction where any of the known paper boards, etc. are used; although, other constructions can be resorted to.

It is characteristic of the package that the coil is wound about a principal axis A (FIG. 3) from an inner terminal end 42 to an outer terminal end 44 (FIG. 3), and the coil is disposed primarily within the container so that its axis A is normal to the walls 16 and 18, with the peripheral Wall 20 surrounding the outside diameter of the coil. By means that will appear in detail below, an external portion of the last turn of coil appears outside the container as a loop providing a handle 46 for carrying and hanging the package as well asfor designating at a glance the color, size, general type etc. of the wire.

The numeral 48 in FIGS. 1 and 2, designates that the wall 16 may be openable in the area of the coil axis A to provide for access to the inner terminal end 42 of the coil so that the coil may be dispensed by unwinding same as the wire is withdrawn through an opening 50 afforded when the circular area 48 is cut out by the Workman, as by use of a knife. In known packages, a plurality of concentric circles is marked, target fashion, on the carton in this area, larger circles being periodically cut out as the inside diameter of the coil increases because of unwinding of the wire from the center of the coil as distinguished from unwinding peripherally. As will be seen, the handle 46 is useful for not only the purposes stated but also, in its hanging condition, to anchor the package during withdrawal of the wire.

In a typical package, the carton will be a parallelopiped because conventional carton-making machines are set up for that type of structure. However, it will be clear that other shapes of cartons could be adapted. Hence the reference to the Walls and flaps 22 through 40 collectively as the peripheral wall 20. The words top and bottom are used with reference to the posture of the package when carried or hung up.

The exploitation of the outer terminal length of'the' apertures 52 and 54, respectively. The loop that forms the handle 46 extends from its outer turn on the coil through the aperture 54, across thetop of the carton and thence back through the other aperture 52, leaving.

enough slack for the handle. As means to assure normal retention of the handle as a handle, the wire is deformed by a small loop or kink 56 just inside the fiap 36 and againby a similar kink or deformation at 58 just inside the flap 34. It will be seen that the deformations or enlargements at 56 and 58 may be formed in the wire while the flaps 36 and 34, respectively are in upright positionsjust prior to being folded to their FIG. 2 status. .These enlargements are of course of such size as to prevent their passage normally through the respective apertures. The

'flaps 38 and 40 are then folded down atop the flaps 34 and 36 and fastened or otherwise retained in place, as by tape at 60. This arrangement places portions of the flaps 38 and 40, in the areas 62, over the apertures and across the wire to cause the wire to change direction before looping back as the handle and also tomaterially reenforce the structure. change in direction in the wire takes some of the pull off the kinks 56 and 58 and also that the carton structure is doubled in this area and prevents tearing of the wall by the wire j v In the form in which the package is shipped, the carton is completely closed. The handle 46 may be pushed far enough into the carton via the apertures 52 and 54 to cause it to lie substantially flat. As already seen, the handle serves at a glance to denote the color, etc. of :the

wire. carry and hang the package, to name a few of the features already noted specifically and/or suggested by the foregoing disclosure. j

Figs. 4-6

; The carton here is fundamentally like the carton but, having somewhat different characteristics, is designated 10', and the coil is shown at 12', being in this case carton 10' has end walls 22" and 24 making up its peripheral wan; 20, along with top and bottom flaps which will be clear w'ithout numerical identification.

v Iii .thi'scase, the apertures corresponding to those at 52 and 54 in FIGS. l-3 occur at 5 2" and 54' respectively in top portions of the walls 22" and 24' and the coil 12, having its axis at A, startsfrom an inner end 42 and ends at an outer terminal end 44, with an intermediate length at its outer portion providing a handle 46' having the same functional characteristics as the handle 46. In this case, the handle 46' extends from the coil 12' outwardly through the aperture 54, across the outside top of the carton and back in through the aperture 52'. The terminal portion at 44 is hooked at 58' around an interior turn of the coil'12'. 1

Because the wire of this coil is multi-strand, it is relatively stiffer than the wire'of the coil 12 and, although it lends itself'to easy formation of the hook at 58', it is not so easily deformable in tight loops such as at 56 and 58 inFIGS. l-3. Hence, reliance is had on other means to assure normal retention of the handle 46'.

As seen in FIG. 5 tension on thehandle' at the portion thereof exiting through the aperture 54' would tend either to unwind the coil 12 in a counterclockwise direction or It should be noted that. the

On the job, the handle makes it convenient to to pull the loop leading to the handle up through the bottom turns of the coil. This would be especially true if the wire led out through an aperture at a direct tangent to the outside circumferenceof the coil, as were the aperture 54 in approximately the same location as that at 54 in FIGS. 1-3. However, the wirehere has an oflset or zig-zag at 56' to minimize this tendency. Further, the

underside of the coil is supplemented by a relatively strong, wide'member 55 in the form of a saddle of paper board or like materialof arcuate shape (FIG. 6) and having circumferentially spaced openings or holes 57 and 59 therein at opposite ends thereof. This member has a width here about equal to the axial dimension of the coil 12'. Or, stated otherwise, the member 55 is at least wider than the thickness of a turn of wire on the coil 12'.

This member is installed in the carton 10 along with the coil 12 and about the lastjtwo turns of the wire are used in conjunction with the member and the apertures 52' and 54' to form the handle 46'. Specifically, the wire proceeds at 61 through the hole 57 in the member, down under the member at 63 and up through the hole 59 at 65 and thence out of 'the'carton as aforesaid. Thus the member keeps the portion 63 from pulling up between the turns of wire at the bottom of the coil 12'. i The top flaps of the carton may be fastened down, as with tapeat 60". .The member may or may not be fastened to the bottom of the carton and will not interfere with dispensing of the wire. Of course, when the last few turns of wire are to be used, the members must be removed and discarded. I I The functional features of this package are the same as those of the package of FIGS. 1-3, so far as concerns carrying, hanging, using the handle as a designation of wire, size, type, etc. ferred to by reference characters can be regarded as imported from FIGS. 1-3 as to carton structure etc.

Summary Both forms of the invention will be readily seen as capable of achicvingthe basic as well as subsidiary objectsof the invention. Features and advantages other than those enumerated will be apparent to those versed inthe art, as will modifications and variations of the disclosed embodiments, all without departure'from the spirit and scope of the invention.

What is claimed is: 1

1. A package, comprising: an enclosing container haw ing a pair of opposed upright walls and a peripheral wall joined to said walls, and a dispensible quantity of strand-- like material disposed primarily in the container in the form of a coil having its principal axis normal to th upright walls anddispensible by unwinding thereof from its center so that its outer portions are the last to be dispensed, one of said upright walls being so constructed inthe area of said axis to enable access to the terminal inner end of the coil for unwinding the coil by dispensing of the material through said one wall, said peripheral wall having a pair of peripherally spaced apertures in the area of the top of said container, said coil having a length of its outer terminal end in the form of a loop extending from the coil outwardly through one aperture and back inwardly through the other aperture to the interior of the container providing a carrying handle, and means operative on said loop for normally preventing separation thereof from the package while serving as said handle during; dispensing of said material through said one wall.

2. The invention defined in claim l, invwhich; said last named means includes portionslof the loop formed within. the container with enlargementsengaging said peripherali wall adjacentto said apertures and preventing withdrawali of the loop outwardlythrough the apertures.

3. The invention defined in claim' 1, in which: said lastnamed means includes a saddle member within the container and at least partially embracing the under portion! of the coil, said member having apair of openings therein Characteristics not specifically respaced apart circumferentially of the coil, said length of coil, within the container, passing downwardly through one opening, beneath said member and upwardly through the other opening and thence outwardly through said one aperture and back through the other aperture as aforesaid.

4. The invention defined in claim 1, in which: the carton has external means overlying the apertures and parts of the handle projecting through the apertures to reenforce the package in the areas of the apertures.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS Abbott. Ritchie 206525 Scherrnuly et a1. 206-46 Lee 20659 Andriot.

10 THERON E. CONDON, Primary Examiner. 

1. A PACKAGE, COMPRISING: AN ENCLOSING CONTAINER HAVING A PAIR OF OPPOSED UPRIGHT WALLS AND A PERIPHERAL WALL JOINED TO SAID WALLS, AND A DISPENSIBLE QUANTITY OF STRANDLIKE MATERIAL DISPOSED PRIMARILY IN THE CONTAINER IN THE FORM OF A COIL HAVING ITS PRINCIPAL AXIS NORMAL TO THE UPRIGHT WALLS AND DISPENSIBLE BY UNWINDING THEREOF FROM ITS CENTER SO THAT ITS OUTER PORTIONS ARE THE LAST TO BE DISPENSED, ONE OF SAID UPRIGHT WALLS BEING SO CONSTRUCTED IN THE AREA OF SAID AXIS TO ENABLE ACCESS TO THE TERMINAL INNER END OF THE COIL FOR UNWINDING THE COIL BY DISPENSING OF THE MATERIAL THROUGH SAID ONE WALL, SAID PERIPHERAL WALL HAVING A PAIR OF PERIPHERALLY SPACED APERTURES IN THE AREA OF THE TOP OF SAID CONTAINER, SAID COIL HAVING A LENGTH OF ITS OUTER TERMINAL END IN THE FORM OF A LOOP EXTENDING FROM THE COIL OUTWARDLY THROUGH ONE APERTURE AND BACK INWARDLY THROUGH THE OTHER APERTURE TO THE INTERIOR OF THE CONTAINER PROVIDING A CARRYING HANDLE, AND MEANS OPERATIVE ON SAID LOOP FOR NORMALLY PREVENTING SEPARATION THEREOF FROM THE PACKAGE WHILE SERVING AS SAID HANDLE DURING DISPENSING OF SAID MATERIAL THROUGH SAID ONE WALL. 